Cruise liner brings over 2,500 people to Dunmore East as tourist numbers grow
Celebrity Silhouette arrived at Dunmore East last week with over 2,500 passengers and 1,500 crew members.
Cruise Ship 'Celebrity Silhouette' recently arrived on Waterford shores.
In anticipation for the arrival of 2,506 passengers and 1,500 crew members, Waterford Council issued a traffic advisory notice in the Dunmore East area last week.
A spokesperson from Port of Waterford commented: "Celebrity Silhouette calls to Waterford May 16th, anchoring at Dunmore East, at the mouth of Waterford harbour, from 7am to 7pm. The mighty vessel is 319 metres in length overall and has a beam width of 36.8 metres, which is long/higher than the Eiffel Tower."
Waterford Chamber of Commerce similarly welcomed the vessel, commenting: "There is a great variety of attractions to enjoy in the South East of Ireland. We look forward to welcoming all ashore, facilitated by our hardworking landside personnel from various agencies."
A number of other largescale vessels will be arriving to Dunmore East across the summer months. The Jewel of the Seas is expected to dock on May 28, with a maximum of 842 passengers.
Celebrity Silhouette is due to return on June 15, June 27 and on August 2. Nieuw Statendam with a maximum capacity of 1,053 passengers will arrive on June 24.
Waterford won't just be receiving an abundance of visitors from abroad this summer, as a recent CSO report revealed that the South of Ireland is the most popular destination for domestic overnight trips.
In quarter four of 2023, Waterford and the further South region welcomed over 1.4 million visitors.
The report revealed that Irish residents took 14.3 million domestic overnight trips in 2023, which amounted to €3.1 billion in expenditure. This compares with 13.3 million domestic overnight trips in 2022 and total expenditure of €2.9 billion.
Holiday was the most common reason for domestic overnight trips, closely followed by visits to friends or relatives.
Irish residents took 2.9 million outbound overnight trips in quarter four of 2023, with over one-third of these trips to a UK destination.
